


The Town's Sick and We're Stuck Inside

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Series: He Who Makes No Sense [18]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Terraqua - Freeform, isn't quarantine fun?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23293213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: So you know that song in Tangled? The opening song where Rapunzel’s done with her chores by a quarter past seven…in the morning? It’s like that.
Relationships: Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: He Who Makes No Sense [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/686706
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	The Town's Sick and We're Stuck Inside

**Author's Note:**

> How's everybody doing?

“–In other news, the Unversed Virus that’s been sweeping the nation has driven up hospital patient numbers and shut down a number of towns. People are being asked to stay indoors—”

Grimacing, Ven turned the tv off and sighed. It’d been “virus this” and “virus that” for the past couple of weeks, and while he understood how dire the situation had become and certainly felt for the victims, he was already going a little stir crazy in the subsequent quarantine it’d landed Twilight Town in. Vanitas had the luxury of being able to work from home—hell, his father had all but threatened him into it—but it meant that not only were they both stuck inside, Ven’s income had been reduced to what little sick time he had left…after he’d caught the flu about two months prior.

Eraqus had tried to be as gracious as he could about it, but if no one was training in the dojo then no one was paying him…which meant Ven, Aqua and Terra weren’t really getting paid either. Terra and Aqua were staying with Eraqus while they figured the situation out.

Ven was…well. Stuck.

He liked the outside. He _missed_ the outside. Any reminders of _why_ he couldn’t go outside were unwelcome at the moment.

Hmm. Maybe he could convince Vanitas into another game of Uno.

He leaned back in his chair at their tiny dining room table to shout down the hall for just that right as his phone started ringing. It nearly sent him tipping backwards, and he was glad Van was in the bedroom with the door closed so he couldn’t see Ven wheeling his arms almost cartoonishly, but he’d righted himself before an unfortunate spill could happen.

Funnily enough, after having just thought of them, it _would_ be Aqua’s name popping up on his screen. It was a video call, too…

Huh.

“Hey,” Ven said as he answered, blinking in surprise as Aqua’s face came into view.

She looked…understandably bored.

“Hey Ven.”

And that was it. Just ‘hey Ven’.

“Just need someone to talk to?” he asked. A grin started to pull at his lips as Aqua huffed out a heavy sigh and nodded.

“Need someone who’s not Terra to talk to. Not that I don’t enjoy talking to him, but…”

“It gets a little same-y when he’s the only one there to talk to—er, aside from Eraqus. I guess…?”

They _were_ at his house, after all.

“Eraqus is up to his ears in paperwork, so he can’t really talk to _anyone_ right now.”

“Oh man…” That had to be painful. Ven was sure a lot of business owners were scrambling now that no one was allowed to go outside for those goods and services. He didn’t even want to know what sort of paperwork Eraqus was drowning in.

“‘Oh man’ indeed. I offered to help but I don’t think he even heard me. Terra’s been avoiding his room like the plague—” A pained expression crossed her face there and Ven wasn’t sure if he should’ve laughed or cringed as well. “That wasn’t the best word choice, was it?”

Maybe a little snicker slipped out.

“It kinda was though?”

Okay, so they definitely burst into giggles there. But then…as bleak as the situation was starting to look, who could really blame them for wanting to lighten things up a bit? That was why Ven had turned the tv off anyway. Too much doom and gloom to compound on the fact that everyone was stuck indoors would’ve gotten a little _too_ depressing.

“So,” he continued, glad to regain even a little bit of normalcy while talking to Aqua. “Aside from Eraqus’ paperwork, what else is going on with you guys? Keeping busy?”

“So you know that song in Tangled? The opening song where Rapunzel’s done with her chores by a quarter past seven…in the morning? It’s like that.”

“Yikes.”

“I’ve cleaned this house from top to bottom but unfortunately Eraqus is already a clean person so that didn’t amount to much.”

That wasn’t surprising. Every time Ven had been over, the place was in tip top condition. There couldn’t have been much to clean.

“So, what else? You’re not baking?” he asked. Aqua tended to bake to soothe her nerves, so he was surprised she hadn’t quickly transitioned into doing just that.

“I’ve been baking for the past few days,” she groaned. “I’ve made a practical mountain of sugar by this point, so I figured I probably shouldn’t make anymore.”

Double yikes. If it’s already reached that point within the first week, Ven was half-worried Aqua would be going stir crazy before the weekend was up. And it was still Thursday.

“How’s Terra doing?” If Aqua was already feeling antsy, it might’ve passed on to Terra. He tended to get quiet and moody when he felt antsy too.

“He’s doing better than I am. Right now he’s in the basement exercising.”

Oh okay, yeah then he was doing alright.

“How about you?” Aqua asked. She adjusted her phone for a bit, pulling it back to reveal a bit more of Eraqus’ kitchen behind her. The atmosphere was a lot more laid back than the current turn of events made these days feel, and it gave Ven a feeling of relaxation that had the tension in his muscles easing. He hadn’t even realized he was that tense.

“It’s been, uh…trying. Right now we’re really just going off Van’s income and the only saving grace there is that he recently got promoted.” The raise that came with it led to a bit more of a comfortable lifestyle: one where they could actually afford wifi and buy a new fridge that didn’t periodically groan like a geriatric old man and not have to fret over bills after that expensive excursion to Radiant Garden. But it wasn’t exactly a step forward into a rich and easy lifestyle. Van’s dad had still been gung-ho about teaching his son to work his way up in the world instead of growing up with a silver spoon in his mouth and it meant that they were only doing marginally better than they had been before the promotion.

Of course, this didn’t really come as news to Aqua, who’d been well aware of their financial situation. She let out another sigh; a long, drained one this time. The sort where even her shoulders visibly sagged.

“I’m sorry, Ven,” she said, shaking her head. “I wish I could help you but my and Terra’s hands are tied right now. If you ever need anything, the best we can do is _try_ , but…”

“That’s okay, Aqua,” Ven reassured her. “I’m glad you’re offering but we’ll be fine.”

Hopefully.

“I’m sure you will. But still! Don’t hesitate to ask!” She frowned a bit then, giving the table a miffed looked as she chewed her lip. “It’d be nice if things could just go back to the way they used to be. Honestly, the last thing we needed was another pandemic.”

“Another?”

“Yes, Vanitas was the first.”

That shouldn’t have been as funny as it was but Ven snorted anyway.

Especially when Van’s voice filtered through the bedroom door.

“I was the second! Your uppity bullshit attitude was the first!”

“Oh god,” she grimaced, rubbing her temple. “I thought he might’ve been hibernating in a ditch or something.”

“I thought you might’ve been walking your dog so he didn’t pee the carpet,” Vanitas shouted back.

“Knock it off,” Ven rolled his eyes before Aqua could let loose another comeback. They’d be at that all day if Ven didn’t intervene. Besides, aside from the odd snort at an unexpected quip, it wasn’t like he _liked_ listening to them insult each other all day. Or Terra. It wasn’t a mystery who Vanitas was referring to when he said “dog” considering how Aqua was allergic to pets.

“You sure you don’t want to spend the rest of quarantine over here? You know, without the vampire,” Aqua offered. Ven knew she was joking, and he couldn’t help but shake his head in exasperated amusement.

“That kinda defeats the purpose of quarantine.” He wasn’t exactly allowed to leave the apartment for anything short of an emergency, after all.

“I know,” she sighed. From behind her, a voice filled the background, low and familiar. Whatever it’d said, Aqua turned and gave the owner of said voice a disgruntled frown.

“I _am_ being nice!” she told it, and Ven found himself chuckling in tandem with the other voice. He raised his own just a bit so that his greeting could be heard.

“Hey Terra!”

Terra’s face peeked in at the edge of the screen, sporting a welcoming smile despite his sweaty, fatigued appearance.

“Hey Ven,” he grinned. “How’s your day been? Up to anything new?”

Ha. No.

“It’s been kinda same-old,” he shrugged, grinning sheepishly. It was weird to call it that when his usual same-old involved waking up early-ish, getting ready for work and then spending a good chunk of the day teaching, before going home to try and figure out dinner (unless Vanitas took the initiative and ordered something beforehand).

But that was it. For the past week, his same-old had changed to waking up not-so-early-ish so he could wander around the apartment while Van worked. They tried to figure out fun things for meals and when Van was done, he’d chill out with Ven on the couch and they’d watch movies or game for a bit. Van got to set his own schedule but he typically favored getting work out of the way as quick as possible, so he still woke up at his usual time. Sometimes he’d take breaks when Ven woke up, like this morning when he’d set his laptop aside to…uh. Canoodle with Ven.

Well, okay, it went way farther than canoodling, but he wasn’t getting into that. He’d be blushing into his phone.

It was novel for the first two days or so, but it’d quickly gotten old. Ven figured he needed this call from Aqua and Terra just to keep sane. He was in the same predicament as Aqua: Vanitas was generally good company when he wasn’t being a menace to society, but Ven needed other people to talk to too.

“Yeah? As you can see,” Terra said, presenting the kitchen with a wave of his hand. “It hasn’t been too same-old for us.”

“I noticed. Hopefully you guys’ll still have a place to go back to once this is over.”

“Hopefully. Bills are going to be an issue without work to cover us. Honestly, they already are. If we were home, our lights would be out.”

“Oh man… If _you guys_ need anything, let me know. That’s not gonna be fun to go home to.”

“We’ll keep that in mind, Ven, but if it’s all the same,” Aqua said, nudging Terra lightly. “I’d rather not focus on the bleaker things right now. We’ve done enough of that.”

“You’re right,” Terra nodded.

Ven nodded as well, leaning back in his seat and just barely catching the bedroom door opening out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t pay that much mind, though. Most likely, Vanitas was coming out for a snack before going back to his work.

“You do have a point. It’d be nicer if there was something less bleak to focus on though. Can’t really do anything cooped up inside like this.”

At least, not anything they hadn’t all already been doing.

“Well, I was getting caught up on that show you recommended me. The one where— _aghhh_!”

Ven raised an eyebrow at Aqua’s sudden scream and horrified looked before she covered her eyes. The other one followed when Terra took one look behind Ven and burst into laughter.

“Uh…what’s wrong?” he turned to see whatever it was that’d caused such a reaction, certain that it couldn’t have been much worse than the mundane sight of his boyfriend rooting through the fridge—hang on.

“Van, what the— _put some clothes on!_ ”


End file.
